Tigers Jaw with OSO OSO & Snoozer
This is a 18+ event with standing room only 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian I Won’t Care How You Remember Me, by the Scranton, Pennsylvania-based band Tigers Jaw, is an ode to living in the present. As this hectic era of distraction whirrs, ticks, swipes, and scrolls by each of us at an alarming speed, the ability to maintain a sense of priority for the human elements in our lives as well as a reflective understanding of self, remains a lost art. But here, the group has seized upon it. Tigers Jaw’s sixth album—and first for new label home Hopeless Records—finds members Ben Walsh (vocals/guitar), Brianna Collins (vocals/keyboards), Teddy Roberts (drums), and Colin Gorman (bass) at the height of their powers, fusing their collective skills with the synchronicity and energy the band honed over several years of non-stop touring. The result is a back-to-the-basement approach elevated by the unmistakable production of their longtime friend and collaborator Will Yip. The band’s most sonically ambitious and lyrically affecting album to date, I Won’t Care How You Remember Me sees a newfound freshness and creative freedom crystalizing the lush and dynamic world of Tigers Jaw.
WILD PINK with FRIENDSHIP & The Soods
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Wild Pink, the New York-bred project of John Ross builds worlds inhabited by ghosts and angels and aliens, inciting a strange and lovely daze as the backdrop shifts from the mundane (subdivisions, highways, hotel parking lots) to the extraordinary (deserts, battlefields, the moon). But within its vast imagination lies a potent truth-telling on the part of singer/guitarist John Ross who’s lyrics lay out potent stories that paint with broad brush strokes. 2021’s A Billion Little Lights—a critically acclaimed effort praised by the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, Vulture, and Stereogum, who named it “one of the prettiest rock records of the past decade”— and who has collaborated with J Mascis, Julien Baker, Ryley Walker, Yasmin Williams, Samantha Crain and more on the latest album ILYSM. Not to mention appearances on CBS This Morning, KEXP and Stereogum sessions and many more accolades to name during Wild Pink’s impressive rise over the years. Now signing with Fire Talk, Wild Pink yet again peels open a new chapter of their ever evolving career, digging into a more realized and full indie rock sound with the force and precision of a seasoned veteran ready to take the leap and step into the spotlight getting their long deserved and well earned due.
DEER TICK with Justin & The Cosmics
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Emotional Contracts, the latest full-length album from Deer Tick, catalogs all the existential casualties that accompany the passing of time, instilling each song with the irresistibly reckless spirit that’s defined the band for nearly two decades. Before heading into the studio with producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Sleater-Kinney), the Providence-bred four-piece spent months working on demos in a perpetually flooded warehouse space in their hometown, enduring the busted heating system and massive holes in the roof as they carved out the album’s 10 raggedly eloquent tracks. Emotional Contracts fully echoes the unruly energy of its creation, ultimately making for a heavy-hearted yet wildly life-affirming portrait of growing older without losing heart. Deer Tick’s first new body of work since 2017’s simultaneously released Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Deer Tick Vol. 2, Emotional Contracts is their most collaborative to date, and sees all four members operating at their peak songcraft powers. The album came to life over an unusually lengthy period of time for the band, with each track based in playing around together and connected in the almost telepathic way that’s only possible after nearly 20 years. Well-rehearsed and overly prepared, Deer Tick embraced a decidedly more free-and-easy approach to the recording process at Fridmann’s Tarbox Road Studios in Western New York. “We’ve had a habit of trying to maintain a strict control over everything in the studio, but this time we wanted to see what it would feel like to let go a bit,” says singer/guitarist John McCauley, whose bandmates include guitarist Ian O’Neil, drummer Dennis Ryan, and bassist Christopher Ryan. “We figured that the songs were strong enough to stand on their own two feet, so whatever we put them through would just make them stronger and take us in some new directions.” Dennis adds, “The fact that we’d spent so much time with these songs allowed us to be really free once we got into the studio. No one was overthinking anything, and because of that the album sounds like us in a way that we’d never captured to this extent before.” Featuring guest musicians like Steve Berlin of Los Lobos–and background vocals from singer/songwriters like Courtney Marie Andrews, Vanessa Carlton (who is also McCauley’s wife), Kam Franklin, Angela Miller, and Sheree Smith–Deer Tick’s ATO Records debut adds an even greater vitality to their feverish collection of timeless rock-and-roll.
Chris Knight w/ Mic Harrison
This is a 18+ event with standing room only17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian After 23 years as a recording artist, singer-songwriter Chris Knight remains boldly empowered to make music that always delivers the unflinching truth. In fact, the man raised in Slaughters, Kentucky uses a simple, direct barometer to regularly check his muse: “If I can’t believe myself, I won’t sing the song.” That brutally honest, no-frills philosophy fits his Americana-fueled, backwoods-grown merger of folk, country, and rock. It’s been at the backbone of nine studio albums, beginning with 1998’s acclaimed self-titled debut and traveling through scorchers such as the one-two punch of 2001’s A Pretty Good Guy and 2003’s The Jealous Kind, two demo-styled discs (2007’s The Trailer Tapes and 2009’s Trailer II), and the recent, electric guitar-fortified opus, 2019’s Almost Daylight. Because Knight’s music has always sat outside of the mainstream, onstage is where he makes his fans one show at a time. It is exactly where his searing tales of rural characters, fringe survivors, and tumultuous small-town existence find a captivated audience. A few edgy, raw gems that immediately come to mind are “It Ain’t Easy Being Me,” “Carla Came Home,” “I’m William Callahan,” and “Everybody’s Lonely Now,” the latter two from Almost Daylight. What Knight writes about is what he knows. He was raised in mining country, so it’s no surprise that he would earn a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University and then work as a mine reclamation inspector and then miner’s consultant. But eventually his passion for writing songs and playing guitar, both inspired by his musical hero, the late John Prine, led him to chronicle his surroundings in words and music.
ZoSo: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian ZOSO Celebrates 28 Years as America’s Premier Led Zeppelin Tribute BandOver the 28 years and over 4500 shows since ZOSO came together as a group in the mid-‘90s, theseemingly tireless quartet has continued to earn its well-deserved reputation as being, in the words of TheL.A. Times, “head and shoulders above all other Led Zeppelin tributes.”ZOSO doesn’t cut corners on either the look or sound of Led Zeppelin. Instead, the band drawsliberally and meticulously from Led Zeppelin’s recorded live and studio output to present a vivid performancepicture of the classic live Zeppelin of 1968-1977. No wonder the St. Petersburg Times noted that, in additionto their virtuosity and spot-on visual presentation, ZOSO is also “the most exacting of all the Led Zeppelintributes.” The Chicago Sun-Times put it even more succinctly: “[ZOSO is] the closest to the original of anyLed Zeppelin tribute.”
Peach Jam: A Tribute to The Allman Brothers Band
This is a 18+ event with standing room only17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Peach Jam is a collective of some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer. Together they celebrate the music of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. Formed in 2022, these players will transport you back in time to the days of the Fillmore East. Peach Jam brings together members of Chicago mainstays such as Cornmeal, Terrapin Flyer, Old Shoe, and The Brooklyn Charmers for a cosmic gumbo of hot jams, tight grooves, soaring vocal harmonies, and down-home blues that will make a believer out of any ABB fan. “People can you feel it? Love is everywhere!
Dale Hollow w/ Jessi Phillips
This is a 18 and over event with standing room only 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian “Stupid is as stupid does / does that make me the dumbest one of all time?” — Dale Hollow, “Hack of the Year” A bit Andy Kaufman, a little Orville Peck, a hint of Father John Misty, Dale Hollow possesses “a fascinating combination of performance and purveyed authenticity,” as the lifestyle magazine Mundane once posited, while also noting that “no other country music artist has ever claimed to be the best, except for Dale Hollow.” Legend has it that Dale actually tried to trademark the phrase “The Country Music Superstar,” so every time someone like Luke Bryan, Loretta Lynn, Jessica Simpson or Darius Rucker attached that phrase to their names, Dale gets some cash. And while Hollow can be purposely self-elevating, that seemingly tall tale is true. “I sent $150 to the copyright office…and I got denied instantly,” he says. “That’s why I use that parenthetical justification (trademark pending).” A mysterious figure in the country music world, here’s what we do know: Hollow, who hails from Nashville and is named after the Kentucky reservoir, had an inauspicious start to his music career. The future country legend was just trying to pay off $35,000 in back taxes. “I was trying to get cash fast,” he admits. “One day, sitting in an internet cafe, I read this article that detailed how Luke Bryan was the most profitable artist in streaming. So I just thought, ‘I’ll do what he does.’” Thankfully, that odd inspiration has led to some not-so-seriously good music. Dale’s new record, Hack of the Year, is a hoot, full of crooning, shuffling beats, yelps and plenty of self-effacing singalongs. While there’s a bit of an arched eyebrow that comes along with some of Hollow’s work, the record itself and the live show are musically savvy. Credit there goes to Hollow’s partners in crime and backing band, The Long Con. “My best talent is finding more talented and capable musicians,” says Dale. Which doesn’t mean Hollow isn’t the focal point when it comes to the live setting. “There’s a lot of energy from me on stage — it’s a very kinetic show,” says Hollow. “There are a lot of jumps and kicks and unnecessary and unorthodox things. But it’s not frenetic that you can’t pay attention! Also, I’m 6’5” — throw on a cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, I’m pretty good at making myself look goofy. A tall guy with a hat on stage, that’s amusing.”
BareFuzz Presents the Dead Floyd Brothers: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd & Allman Brothers
This is a 18 and over event with standing room only 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Based out of the burgeoning live music scene of Columbus, OH, BareFuzz cuts through the seemingly never-ending milieu of improvisationally-based rock bands. The quintet – comprised of guitarists/vocalists, Ryan Jones and Andrew Maughan, bassist Adam Tackett, drummer Derek Petrucci, and percussionist Jason Weihl – continues to innovate and excite by taking it’s unique blend of jam, blues, psychedelia, and funk to new levels. The band is fresh off an explosive year that saw them performing across the Midwest at festivals like Summer Camp Music Festival, Secret Dreams Music Festival, Mountain Music Festival and The Werk Out Music & Arts Festival. Relentless touring has seen the band support groups such as Goose, Papadosio, Dark Star Orchestra, The Werks, ekoostik hookah, Andy Frasco & The U.N., and more. Formed in 2016 in Columbus by Jones, Tackett, and Petrucci as a powerful three-piece, the BareFuzz that audiences across the Midwest have become intimately familiar with truly came together two years later with the addition of Maughan and Weihl. Bolstered by the added instrumentation, the band worked its way through the Ohio circuit and across the greater Midwest, taking on a familiar feel with scores of fans identifying BareFuzz as their band. BareFuzz’s sound has since reverberated to larger and larger rooms as the band experiences hard-earned growth both on and offstage, transforming into a nationally touring powerhouse.
Smells Like Nirvana
This is a 18+ event with standing room only 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Celebrate the legendary sounds of Nirvana & Kurt Cobain with national traveling Nirvana tribute’Smells Like Nirvana’ as they perform songs from Nevermind, In Utero, Bleach, and more (B-sides/rare songs). Make song requests at smellslikenirvanatribute.com. Smells Like Nirvana is based out of Chicago and is composed of seasoned pros and die-hard fans of Nirvana fronted by Paul Wandtke (ex Trivium, Dead Original), w/ drummer SeanMcCole and bassist Mike Petrasek (Bedlem). Their live tribute to Nirvana is a haunting episode of grunge filled angst playing songs from Nirvana’s albums Bleach, Nevermind, In Utero and MTV Unplugged as well as rare B-sides and more; played without click tracks or backing tracks, a trait that is rare in today’s contemporary musical landscape, a trait and philosophy that Nirvana lived by.
Phillip-Michael Scales
18+ Event standing room only Growing up, Phillip-Michael Scales didn’t understand what it meant that his aunt’s close friend, the guitar player who called him “Nephew” and he called “Uncle B,” was B.B. King. Once Phillip-Michael began guitar less, the significance became so clear that he shied away from soloing and most things blues. Instead, he fell in love with songwriting when an English teacher told him “A great writer can make their reader identify with anyone.” The trouble was he couldn’t find his story in the blues. With a fierce independent streak and a passion for performing, Scales fronted his own indie bands, wrote and recorded his own music, and worked to make a name for himself on his own terms. All the while, his “Uncle B” just smiled a knowing smile and encouraged him to “stay with it.” Their relationship grew closer as Scales began to discover “the blues” in his personal and professional life. When his Uncle B passed away, Scales began incorporating more of the blues into his music as a way to honor him. “These days I’m finding more of my story in the blues. A lot has led me here between politics, my identity, and the idea of Legacy.” The result is a sound he calls “Dive Bar Soul” which takes a bit of indie rock storytelling and couples it with the passion of the blues. His single “Find a Way” attracted national radio attention in 2022 and garnered an invite to perform on the Ellen Degeneres Show. His music has taken him all the way to the Middle East, as well as festivals across Europe and North America. He has opened for Milky Chance, Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains), Caravan Palace, Fantastic Negrito, The New Respects, Anderson East, Guster, The Record Company, and Cory Brannan.
